99 wins, win NLCS and lose World Series. Manager of the Year for Dusty Baker because Shin-Shoo Choo raised his baseball IQ significantly so that he now knows how to select a leadoff hitter. Having a capable leadoff hitter is just a question of how smart the manager is.

126 wins (the losses will be Dusty’s fault of course), sweep every postseason game, Votto MVP with .399/.499/.699, Chapman Cy Young with 30 wins & 30 saves and 15 holds, Frazier will save three people from choking and rescue a cat from a maple tree.

126 wins (the losses will be Dusty’s fault of course), sweep every postseason game, Votto MVP with .399/.499/.699, Chapman Cy Young with 30 wins & 30 saves and 15 holds, Frazier will save three people from choking and rescue a cat from a maple tree.

Alright, I thought I made a good post but you flat out beat me. I think Frazier better expand his skills beyond the Heimlich Maneuver, maybe save an old person from a heart attack or grab a little kid who’s about to be run over by a car.

Expectations:
*92-95 Wins
*Easily capture Division Title
*Win NLDS
*Huge boost in leadoff production from Choo
*A few more headaches from Dusty
*Another textbook Jay Bruce statistical season, big home run and rbi numbers, too many strikeouts and slumps
*Slight decrease in production from Votto due to injury
*Chapman remains closer
*Frazier has a great season at 3B. Reds only miss Rolen for his clubhouse leadership.

90-95 wins/division title/after that it’s a crapshoot. The organization is in the best shape it’s been in since the ’70s. Amazing!!!

I think we’ll gnash our teeth at times about the bullpen due to underperformance.

It will be crucial that Votto/Phillips/Cozart stay healthy, as there’s a huge dropoff in ability behind them.

That said, this is a team with real expectations. It’ll be interesting to see if they approach the season with a chip on their shoulders, knowing they had the world champs down 0-2. I can’t speak for them, but I’m still on a low boil about how that went down. I would hope the team will be using that as motivation to not just win but leave no doubt as well. All hail Votto the Merciless!

@gosport474: I got it – for Super Todd Frazier – Darren Baker, Dusty’s son, is now old enough to be a MLB bat boy. Hopefully Todd Frazier can reenact the 2002 World Series game where JT Snow saved Darren Baker from being crushed at home plate. Or somewhere else. Hopefully in 2013 we can see Todd Frazier heroically save Darren from harm. Save him from being trampled, hit by a bat, hit by a foul ball, a car, or something. Something heroic by Todd Frazier.

Everything below is based on a healthy season from JoeyMVP. I’m still very, very concerned about the fact that his knee was not 100% as of December and I think it’s a better than 50/50 chance that he has another surgery before the team heads north out of Arizona. Of course, that may just be my pessimistic nature coming out! Here’s the optimism:

87-92 Wins
Division Title
Win a NLDS
Host a playoff game that isn’t right in the middle of the work day.
If Votto is healthy, he’s in the thick of the MVP race.
Ryan Braun’s pants actually catch fire from all the fibs he tells.
I don’t miss Chris Carpenter a single time all season.

I’m thinking mid 90’s in the win column, and they make the playoffs again. This time, they win a series. Beyond that, the homer comes out in me.

I think Chapman sticks in the rotation, Bruce hits .275/.360/.550 with 40+ homers. I think Choo and Votto have OBP’s over .420. I think Homer continues to get better, and posts (the numbers for) an ERA under 3.5.

I also predict that this is the year I finally breakdown and buy MLB.TV premium. I’ll always tune in on the radio, follow the comments on Redlegnation, or at least follow the box score, but I miss seeing the games except in bars.

@Jared Wynne: I wasn’t necessarily referring to Volquez – more like in 2002 when a bunch of guys had visa issues preventing them from entering the country.

Here’s an unimportant (but interesting) question – who will they choose as their new team representative to the MLB Players Union? It WAS Bill Bray for several years, but he’s gone now. I’m not sure if the selection process is a popularity contest or what, or when the 2013 representatives are selected.

For the Players Union it seems like they’d choose somebody who’d keep the job long term (not Choo), somebody who seems outgoing (not Votto), somebody who gets along with people on other teams (not Phillips), and somebody without little kids (not Marshall). And somebody who it won’t distract from more important duties (not Hanigan, who should be focusing on his catching). Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart, and Mat Latos all seem like reasonable candidates as team representative who the team seems to be building around.

For the Players Union it seems like they’d choose somebody who’d keep the job long term (not Choo), somebody who seems outgoing (not Votto), somebody who gets along with people on other teams (not Phillips), and somebody without little kids (not Marshall).And somebody who it won’t distract from more important duties (not Hanigan, who should be focusing on his catching).Todd Frazier, Zack Cozart, and Mat Latos all seem like reasonable candidates as team representative who the team seems to be building around.

I can’t speak for now or for this team, but I was glancing through my copy of Ball Four today and Bouton said on the Pilots, it was a popularity contest and seems like it was often. But that was before big money came into baseball, so I don’t know if that would effect it.

Q: How are the Club Player Representatives chosen?
A: The Members on each Major League club elect, by secret ballot, a Club Player Representative and an Alternate Player Representative. Each Club Representative serves on the Executive Board and he is responsible for meeting regularly with the players on his Club and represents them in the resolution of problems at the Club level.

They’re elected by ‘secret ballots’ but I assume guys have to volunteer before getting votes. If it involves meeting individually with teammates (which requires some social skills) and dealing with bureaucracy (meeting with reps from other teams to work out drug testing agreements, for example), some guys probably wouldn’t want to volunteer. As I said in my opinion it seems like Frazier, Cozart, and Latos might all be cut out for it if they wanted it.

@Jared Wynne: I think Latos used to have a reputation of a young punk kinda guy, but who knows, maybe he got past that, but either way I don’t think it’s a problem that stands out. At least he’s not known for controversial statements about disliking the Cardinals like Brandon Phillips. Personally I think the main reason Phillips is participating in the World Baseball Classic is to improve his image. Mat Latos’ wife is very outgoing (as seen by her blog) and might appreciate if he takes a big (albeit quiet) role in the team and MLB affairs. Then again, that’s just my impression, I’ve never met Mat or Dallas or anything.

@Jared Wynne: I think Latos used to have a reputation of a young punk kinda guy, but who knows, maybe he got past that, but either way I don’t think it’s a problem that stands out. At least he’s not known for controversial statements about disliking the Cardinals like Brandon Phillips.

It was my understanding that Latos was known for his anti Dodgers and Giants statements as a Padre. I think you see Bruce as the players rep.

@redsfanman: That’s true, he could do it as an image restoration sorta thing. Hadn’t thought about that.

I think Brandon Phillips should (and does) feel like he was snubbed for the All Star Game and Gold Glove in 2012. He doesn’t have anything to prove in the World Baseball Classic as far as talent. I’ve said all along that I think the WBC is a good and rare opportunity for him to make a good impression on a lot of people who otherwise know him only as an arrogant and outspoken Cincinnati Reds player.

Guys like RA Dickey, Ryan Vogelsong, Craig Kimbrel, Heath Bell, Mitchell Boggs, Ryan Braun, G Stanton, Adam Jones, Shane Victorino, David Wright, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Teixeira, Ben Zobrist, and Joe Mauer will all get a chance to spend a few days as Brandon Phillips’ teammate, as will manager Joe Torre. I think they’ll find that they enjoy having him as a teammate and start to view him more favorably than they do already. So yeah, I think it’s all about image restoration.

Guys like Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto don’t need to worry about their image and therefore have little incentive to participate.

102-105 wins. a young and flawed team grows up and learns how to win by a Giants team they had beat horribly, only to lose to.

Those lessons go deep.

Breakout year: Chapman as a starter 12 Wins. Phillips hitting in only the #2 spot all year is All Star, Gold Glove self that hits a strong 300+ OK 324 for the year and scores 100 runs with 85 RBIs and the lineup

Broxton finishes the year with a 3.2 ERA and saves 38 of 44 games.

Votto is Votto, Bruce has another great year. Cueto and Bronson are as last year. Latos improves as does Homer Bailey. Frazier plays at the same rate he did last year and gets 90+ RBI’s on a team that is an offensive terror. Ludwick plays 150 games in LF and has 100 RBIs

Hannigan slumps for him (maybe due to injury) and Mesarco gets significant starts and does just fine, hitting in the 250 range

@jbmitt: Oh, you’re probably right about Mat Latos, I didn’t look into it. I remembered him being described as a young punk, and trash talking the Padres’ rival teams could explain it.

Like Joey Votto I just don’t see Jay Bruce as a particularly outgoing guy, I think of him more as a quiet guy who sits in the corner rather than somebody who strives to get to know each of his 25 teammates. I also don’t get the impression that Bruce is the kinda guy who would want to be involved with the bureaucracy. But, as I said with Mat Latos, I don’t know Jay Bruce either. But my impression is that he’s an unlikely choice.

My prediction as of today is that the Reds will be World Series Champs. Several reasons. They have had terrible luck in the post season in 2010 and 2012. Well it wasn’t exactly bad luck to lead with Voltron but Dusty can hardly miss with the rotation he has now. Well maybe he can but the odds are at least much better. And luck was especially bad, even cruel, in 2012 (Joey with no power and one inning from Cueto) Luck tends to even out. And they are better down the line. They are more balanced than they have been in a long time. The most important thing in the post season is pitching. The Reds pitching should be at it’s prime and the best in the majors. The lineup is way more Dusty proof. So, I’m pretty confident. I’m going out to Goodyear week after next. I hope my confidence is confirmed.

I cannot recall anytime in my adult baseball watching life when the national media has been so high on our Redlegs. I’m stoked. Spring runs eternal, so I’m always excited, but if we don’t go deep into the postseason, this season will have been a disappointment. Predictions: Reds beat the Natinals in 6 to advance to the World Series, and beat the Angels in 5. We have two starters in the top five ballot for the Cy Young, Joey MVP chases Ted Williams batting mark and falls just short of the record in the final two weeks of the season, and Todd Frazier kills a cobra with a look of disdain. Once the outrage of animal rights activists reaches a fevor pitch, Todd promptly performs lifesaving surgery on said cobra using a combination of relaxation techniques, magnets, and secret herbs and spices to bring life back into the snake and there is great joy.